Daredevil #501Review

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Diggle and De La Torre introduce another bold new direction for Daredevil.

By Dan Phillips

More so than any other superhero property, Daredevil seems to inspire creators to shoot for the stars with their boldest and wildest ideas. Even though most have been simply strip-mining Frank Miller's Born Again deconstruction ever since that landmark story hit the stands (which editor Steve Wacker freely admits in his afterword to this issue), this series always seems to shoot off in exciting directions whenever a new creative team comes on board. Andy Diggle and Robert De La Torre are the latest duo to inherit the book, and from the looks of this first issue, they just might have enough thrills and surprises in store for their run to live up to those of their acclaimed predecessors.

As was the case when Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark took over the series from Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev, Diggle and De La Torre begin with a stark change in status quo: Matt Murdock has broken all ties with his friends and assumed leadership of The Hand, the deadly ninja cult he's been battling since the days of Miller and Klaus Jansen. It's a novel concept, to be sure, but that novelty alone wouldn't be enough to make the idea work. For that, Diggle had to make sure the story hit the ground running, and he certainly does just that by having Daredevil fulfill a brutal initiation to join The Hand's ranks. I won't spoil the nature of the initiation, but suffice it to say my jaw hit the floor after I watched Daredevil go through with it.

Matt Murdock's good ol' Catholic guilt once again plays a large role in the book, but thankfully, because of this new status quo, we're able to mostly watch him act upon that guilt rather than sulk. One of the problems with Brubaker's run was that he spent a little too much time gleefully destroying Matt's personal life, and the book became a tad too melodramatic and morose as a result. Daredevil assuming leadership of The Hand means we'll get to see far more of him kicking butt than sulking, and that much is made clear right off the bat. Unsurprisingly, the scene that works the least in this issue is the one in which Matt's friends sit around and decry his downfall. Less of this, more ninja action, please.

Although Diggle steps to the plate with some strong writing, the star of the show is undoubtedly De La Torre. I wasn't too fond of the artist's work on Thundebolts, but here his visuals are far more polished and impressive. De La Torre keeps to the noir tradition of the series, bathing each panel with haunting shadows, but also brings a superhero-y flair to the visuals. His work feels very much like an extension of that of Maleev, David Mack and Lark, but also adds a dynamic dimension to the book that's been missing for some time. Regardless of where Diggle takes this story, it looks like this series will remain gorgeous at the very least.

All in all, I'd say this new creative team is off to an auspicious start. Their new status quo is rich with promise, and they seem to have a strong grasp on the characters without being overly reverent. I'm ready for another exciting ride.